Universal controlling devices, such as for example, remote control type devices which are configured to issue commands to a multiplicity of appliances of different type and/or manufacture, and the features and functionality provided by such controlling devices are well known in the art.
For commanding the operation of multiple appliances using a single universal controlling device, a conventional controlling device typically comprises multiple device mode states. In each device mode state, the universal controlling device is configured to command the operation of one or more designated appliances. For example, a typical universal remote control may be placed into one of the multiple device mode states through actuation of a corresponding device mode key. In this example, the user relies on the key labels to determine the proper device mode. The actuation of such a device mode key functions to configure the universal remote control to transmit command codes to the one or more appliances that have been designated to the device mode state corresponding to the actuated device mode key.
One drawback of such an arrangement is that is incumbent upon the user of the controlling device to be aware of, and if necessary reselect, an appropriate device mode state prior to issuing operating commands to each of the controlled appliances. All too frequently users may forget or overlook this step, resulting in an unintended action being performed by the wrong device.
A further shortcoming of such controlling devices is that users must always be looking at the input elements, for example keys on a universal remote control, may initiate different command functions in different device modes. The prevalence of such input key clutter is yet another source of user confusion. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a universal controlling device that allows a user to navigate and control appliance functions without the input key clutter, mode confusion, and input key labels, thereby eliminating the need to look down at each input key label to perform the desired operation.